Beachgoers on the Esplanade, Cronulla, were greeted this morning with an impressive sight as Bate Bay (Whale Bay circa 1800) was filled with a superpod of bottle-nose dolphins slapping their tales and leaping out of the surf.
Dolphins are social mammals closely related to whales and porpoises, living in pods of up to a dozen. In places with a high abundance of food, pods can merge temporarily, forming a superpod; such groupings may exceed 1000 dolphins.
In what could be described as the worst nightmare for fishes, the dolphins moved in a massive pod from one end of Cronulla beach to the other, feeding off the back of several large rips.
Local surfers and swimmers carried on as usual as some of the dolphins caught waves and generally behaved like they owned the place.
Dolphins are often regarded as one of Earth's most intelligent animals and, with waves today being amongst the best they have been this spring, it’s not hard to see why.
